The Pearl Hunters (Kim Wilkins, Omnibus, $18.99 pb, ISBN 9781862917514, June) ****

Exactly as the blurb says, The Pearl Hunters is ‘a love story, an adventure and a ripping yarn.’ So, first and foremost, the audience is 11- to 14-year-olds who are at the stage to enjoy a romance mixed into their adventure story. Constance Blackchurch has stowed away on her father’s ship and come to the South Seas to search for her long-lost mother. Once there, she meets the beautiful Alexandre, French orphan and pearl diver, and the romance begins. Really, what more can the reader ask for? A secret romance with a gorgeous boy/man, more mature than his years because of the life he has led; the exotic beauty of the South Seas in the 19th century; and a deranged pearl dealer panting for revenge on Alexandre and on Constance’s father. Wilkins is an excellent writer and she creates vivid and believable characters. It is a somewhat old-fashioned genre—I read very similar period stories myself as a teenager—but these characters are more modern and complex. As the book unfolds, you find more to the characters than what you see on first acquaintance. The ending is a mix of sadness and happy ever after, and is not impossible to believe. Very enjoyable.

Liz Riley was a senior member of staff at The Little Bookroom for several years. She is now at the Australian Booksellers Association

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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